Kuyperian, Author at Kuyperian Commentary

On April 22, 2014 By Kuyperian In Culture Like

Foundational prog albums – Selling England by the Pound

If you click and enlarge the picture you can see good ol’ Charlie Brown pulling out his well-worn vinyl copy of Selling England by the Pound.

Selling England by the Pound – Genesis (released in 1973)

I remember several times as a teenager watching the British comedy show Monty Python’s Flying Circus on my local PBS affiliate. I loved some of the more obvious zaniness and several of the buffoonish skits. However, I always felt that the broader contours of the humor were beyond my grasp. In retrospect, much of Monty Python’s humor was beyond me. The colloquialisms were foreign, the surrealism was unfamiliar to me, and the social situations involving prime ministers, knights, gumboots, vicars, civil servants, and the like were just too…British. I was (and still am) a United States Midwesterner and, while I appreciated the hilarity of the physical humor of silly walks or the “Gumby” skits, it wasn’t until I was older that I realized the deep cynicism lurking behind government grants for silly walks or a statement like, “I would put a tax on all people who stand in water.” Taking something serious (for example, wanton over-taxation) and sending it up through silliness is distinctly British and is something that ended up profoundly shaped my worldview, my sense of humor, and the way I look at things like oppressive governmental entities.

Many newbies to progressive rock probably feel the same bewilderment I felt toward Monty Python when approaching the early albums of the British band Genesis. During the mid-1980s Genesis produced highly accessible music that allowed them to sell millions of records, play worldwide to sold-out stadiums, and shill for Michelob beer. This massive success no doubt sent new fans scurrying for the band’s back-catalogue. What awaited those bandwagon fans was a lot of idiosyncratic music with song titles like “Squonk,” “Robbery, Assault & Battery,” and “Wot Gorilla?” If fans managed to white-knuckle it through those late-1970s albums and worked all the way back to the early-1970s where Genesis was fronted by Peter Gabriel they were greeted by aggressively quirky songs like “Stagnation,” “The Return of the Giant Hogweed,” “Harold the Barrel,” and “Get ‘Em Out by Friday.” Anyone expecting “In Too Deep,” “Invisible Touch,” or even “Sussudio” was in for a rude awakening.

Genesis was a band that formed out of several friendships fostered in the British boarding/public school system. They released an ill-conceived first album in 1969 entitled From Genesis to Revelation that found them sounding much more like a third-rate Bee Gees knockoff than the prog rockers they would become. The band’s first proper album (Trespass) was released in 1970 and reflected a far more progressive rock edge, although in a very undeveloped form. It was followed by Nursery Cryme in 1971, Foxtrot in 1972, and Selling England by the Pound in 1973.

The band’s unusual songs were coupled with a live act that was equally daring. Gabriel regularly appeared on stage wearing bizarre costumes like a bowler hat, a red dress, a fox head, and a flower headdress as he acted out the characters from Genesis’ songs. This combination of highly idiosyncratic music and musical theater showmanship brought the band tremendous notoriety and helped solidify their reputation as an edgy live act.

After the jump I will explore Genesis’ Selling England by the Pound track-by-track.

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On April 18, 2014 By Kuyperian In Theology Like

Good Friday Reflection

For reflection on Good Friday, here’s an excerpt from Christians at the Cross by N.T. Wright:

“Finished.” “Accomplished.” “Completed.” Jesus’ last word, which sums it all up. Part of its meaning is that everything that had gone before . . . has now come together. This is where it was all going; this is what it was all about.

Part of its meaning is that in Jesus’ world that word “finished” was what you wrote on a bill when it had been settled: “Paid in full!” But underneath these is the meaning John intends, I believe, most deeply. When God the Creator made his wonderful world, at the end of the sixth day he finished it. He completed his work. Now, on the Friday, the sixth day of the week, Jesus has completed the work of redeeming the world. With his shameful, chaotic, horrible death he has gone to the very bottom, to the darkest and deepest place of the ruin, and has planted there the sign that says “Rescued.” It is the sign of love, the love of the creator for his ruined creation, the love of the saviour for his ruined people. Yes, of course, it all has to be worked out. The victory has to be implemented. But it’s done; it’s completed; it’s finished . . .

Now here in this community, and in this church, there are plenty of Marys and Johns, plenty of people for whom life isn’t going to be the same again. Our job is to stand and wait at the foot of the cross, and to see what fresh word may come to us concerning the way forward, the way of becoming a community again . . .

Good Friday is the point at which God comes into our chaos, to be there with us in the middle of it and to bring us his new creation. Let us pause and give thanks, and listen for his words of love and healing.

N.T. Wright, Christians at the Cross: Finding Hope in the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus (Ijamsville, Md.: The Word Among Us Press, 2007), 57–58.

On April 18, 2014 By Kuyperian In Scribblings Like

Tasting Death

“Christ took death, ‘even death on a cross’ (Phil. 2:8). The subject of this dying—the One who dies–is God the Son. He obeys unto death. In his original form he was immune to death, but he assumed a form that was mortal. He went towards death, choosing it and tasting it, deciding not to be its master but its victim, and accepting a destiny according to which it would be a sin for him not to die. The Son of Man must suffer. Death was obedience. Not dying would be disobedience.

Besides death, it was death in its most aggravated form. Not merely because the cross involved indescribable pain, but because in his case it was the occasion, the instrument, and the symbol of the curse due to sin. He experienced death unmitigated and unqualified: death with the sting; a death without light, comfort, or encouragement. The long, long journey from Caesarea Philippi to Calvary was a long journey into a black hole involving not only physical and emotional pain, but a spiritual desertion beyond our imagining.

In his agony he would cry and not be heard. He would lose all sense of his divine Sonship. He would lose all sense of his Father’s love. Into that tiny space (his body, outside Jerusalem), and into that fraction of time (the ninth hour, Good Friday) God gathered the sin of the world, and there and then, in the flesh of his own Son, he condemned it (Rom. 8:3). On that cross, at that time, the Son knew himself only as sin and his Father only as its avenger.

Here was the singularity. The Logos, the ground of all law, became lawlessness, speechless in a darkness beyond reason. He so renounced his rights that he died; and he so made himself nothing that he died THAT death. He did not shrink from the connection with flesh. And when a second great step was called for, he shuddered, yet resolutely accepted the connection with death. He became flesh, then went deeper, tasting death.”

-Donald Macleod, “The Person of Christ”

(Hat-tip to my friend Justin Dillehay who posted this quote on FB this morning.)<>

On April 15, 2014 By Kuyperian In Scribblings Like

Doug Philips accused by a woman named Lourdes Torres

We at Kuyperian have been keeping a close eye on the Doug Phillips unfolding drama, which came as a result of his inappropriate relationship with a woman. With the recent news of the resignation of another famous patriarchal leader, Bill Gothard, the patriarchal movement has come to the center of several new investigations. Now, World Net Daily reports that the same woman–Lourdes Torres– is accusing Vision Forum leader, Doug Phillips, of inappropriate behavior far worse than originally implied by the resignation letter:

In the complaint filed in Kendall County District Court in Texas Tuesday morning, Phillips is accused of using a woman named Lourdes Torres, now 29, as “a personal sex object” over a period of five years.

Asked if she ever believed she loved Phillips, Torres, who was over the age of 21 at the time of the sexual contact, told WND, “Oh, yes, definitely.”

Torres said she met Phillips and his wife, Beall, at a homeschooling conference in November 1999 when Torres was 15 years old. Torres spent many hours in the Phillips home, cared for their children and helped run the family farm. She was invited on trips with the family to Hawaii, Virginia, Mexico, Florida and other states.

By 2007, according to the complaint, Phillips began “to pay special attention” to Torres, complementing her beauty and devotion to his family, giving her money, touching her, asking her personal questions about her thoughts and life plans and telling her he would take care of her.

READ THE REST

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On April 15, 2014 By Kuyperian In Scribblings Like

Iowa Governor Terry Branstad Calls Iowans to Repent

The Republican Iowa Governor known for growing government and raising taxes, makes an interesting proclamation. Watch for yourself.

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On April 15, 2014 By Kuyperian In Scribblings Like

Five Errors to Remove from your Easter Sermon

Andreas J. Köstenberger and Justin Taylor speak to five errors that are common in Easter sermons. Here is number one:

The common assertion seems reasonable that if Jesus “began his ministry” when he “was about thirty years of age” (Luke 3:23) and engaged in a three-year ministry (John mentions three Passovers, and there might have been a fourth one), then he was 33 years old at the time of his death. However, virtually no scholar believes Jesus was actually 33 when he died. Jesus was born before Herod the Great issued the decree to execute “all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under” (Matt. 2:16, ESV) and before Herod died in the spring of 4 B.C. If Jesus was born in the fall of 5 or 6 B.C., and if we remember that we don’t count the “0” between B.C. and A.D., then Jesus would have been 37 or 38 years old when he died in the spring of A.D. 33 (as we believe is most likely). Even if Jesus died in the year A.D. 30 (the only serious alternative date), he would have been 34 or 35, not 33 years old. No major doctrine is affected by this common misconception. But don’t damage your credibility by confidently proclaiming “facts” from the pulpit that are not true. READ THE REST

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On April 15, 2014 By Kuyperian In Culture Like

Foundational prog albums – Close to the Edge

If you click and enlarge the picture you can see good ol’ Charlie Brown pulling out his well-worn vinyl copy of Close to the Edge.

Eddie [Offord] roused himself sufficiently to play back one of the album tracks called ‘Total Mass Retain’.

“What does ‘Total Mass Retain’ mean!” protested Bill [Bruford].

“What’s wrong with ‘Total Mass Retain’?” demanded Jon [Anderson]. “I had to think of something quickly.”

“Why not call it ‘Puke’?” asked Bill.^[1]

—

“In 40 years’ time, along with three or four other albums from that era, people will pick out Close to the Edge and say, ‘That’s what progressive rock was all about.’”^[2]

Close to the Edge – Yes (released in 1972)

Few bands personify the worldview and ethos of progressive rock better than the band Yes. The band formed in 1968 around a nucleus of bassist Chris Squire, guitarist Peter Banks, vocalist Jon Anderson, and drummer Bill Bruford. Keyboardist Tony Kaye was added a bit later and the first version of the band was complete.

Yes began their career as a cover band performing tunes by The Beatles, Simon & Garfunkel, and The 5th Dimension. Instead of performing the hits of these artists verbatim, Yes would add long instrumental sections of their own composition, extending the songs to epic lengths.

The first incarnation of Yes proved to be short-lived. After two largely unsuccessful albums, Banks was out of the band in 1970. He was replaced by Steve Howe. Kaye would leave the band a year later and was replaced by Rick Wakeman. The Yes of Anderson, Squire, Bruford, Howe, and Wakeman would comprise what many fans consider to be Yes’ greatest lineup.

Over the span of eighteen months (March 1971 to September 1972) Yes released three of the finest albums of the first wave of prog: The Yes Album, Fragile, and their masterpiece, Close to the Edge. Close to the Edge contained the perfect storm of three dynamic songs, performed by the right five musicians, recording under the oversight of the right producer and engineer (Eddy Offord), and everyone performing at the peak of their potential. The album also featured a brilliant album cover and gatefold sleeve by graphic designer Roger Dean.

As for the songs, Close to the Edge is an album full to overflowing with beauty and goodness. The songs also might be overflowing with lyrical truth. However, vocalist Jon Anderson’s lyrics are notoriously cryptic and quite difficult to interpret. Guitarist/keyboardist Kerry Livgren of the band Kansas summed up the ambivalence that many fans have with Yes’ music when he wrote, “Yes…should have been everything I liked, but for some reason they weren’t. They made use of esoteric and quasi-religious themes, but they sometimes went so far with their lyrics that it struck me as almost corny. But The Yes Album, Fragile, and Close to the Edge were musically excellent.”^[3]

Dr. Brad Birzer has stated that he has heard Close to the Edge is about the Protestant Reformation. Although I have been unable to find any scholarly works or papers to verify Birzer’s assertion, he very well may be correct. Most of the scholarly commentary on the album’s title track point out that the lyrics are influenced by Hermann Hesse’s book Siddhartha. Regardless, we can certainly say that the album contains some images and concepts that may be biblical. I’ll point those out as we explore all three of the songs on this classic album.

Note: For the purposes of this review I used the 2013 Steven Wilson remix of Close to the Edge as a reference. Wilson spoke recently about his approach to remixing this iconic album here. If you can spring for the Wilson remix (especially the Blu-Ray version) it is well worth the money.

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On April 11, 2014 By Kuyperian In Books, Scribblings Like

Buy Bianco’s Book for a Buck

by Marc Hays

Yesterday, I recommended M. G. Bianco’s book, Letters to My Sons: A Humane Vision for Human Relationships. Today, and only today, you can buy the Kindle version of this book for 99 cents. Yes, that’s right, 99 cents. As I commended it to you yesterday, I recommend it to you today and will be recommending it for years to come.

Here’s another quote:

“Fornication is not a game to be played. A failure to see and treat others as fully human images of God is a failure to love your neighbor. Treating others and becoming animal-like yourself–for that is the result of failing to love your neighbor–is to habituate yourself out of the Kingdom of God; it is to live according to habits that make you more like an animal than an image-bearer of God. It is impossible to desire and be welcomed into the presence of the Triune God when you have trained yourself to not want to be there.”

Here’s a link to buy Bianco’s book for ’bout a buck.

Here’s a link to my quote from yesterday.

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On April 10, 2014 By Kuyperian In Scribblings Like

A Humane Vision for Human Relationships

In January 2014, M. G. Bianco published Letters to My Sons: A Humane Vision for Human Relationships. I am thoroughly enjoying this book and will write a full review of it when I finish, but for now here’s a portion to whet your appetite. Although I have not finished reading it yet, I can already highly recommend it to everyone. It is a work worthy of reading. Twice.

Here’s the quote for today:

We need to recognize that to fail to treat others as they deserve is to objectify them. When we limit someone by the way we look at them we are objectifying them. To objectify another human being is to reduce them to something other than their full humanness. I will use the term “dehumanize” in these letters to refer to the way we treat others improperly. For many of these letters, we will consider how we dehumanize others with our eyes, our thoughts, and our sexual behaviors toward or with them.

Think of it in terms of the phrase, “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” What is meant, of course, is that you cannot know the true value of the words within the book simply by looking at its cover. How much more true is this of humans? The complexity of the human person prevents us from truly knowing their inner beauty and goodness, their value and dignity as humans created in the image of God. When we determine that someone is not worth getting to know or have a relationship with because of how we have judged their appearances with our eyes, we are objectifying them, we are dehumanizing them.

As M. G. Bianco states in the subtitle, he has a “humane vision for human relationships.” The purpose of these letters is to pass this vision along to his sons. Through the pages of these letters, now published, the non-Biancan reader can also see with new eyes that which is a very old vision, for it is the vision of the triune God, who created humanity in His very image.

Go to Amazon, and buy your own copy via this link. Hard copy or Kindle.<>

On April 9, 2014 By Kuyperian In Culture Like

Building a Prog Foundation – Five Starter Albums

We have arrived at the point in our show where, having set the stage with a brief history and addressed some “what and why” questions, we are ready to get down to brass tacks and give consideration to a variety of prog rock artists, albums, and songs. In forming this list I worked from the assumption that the average Kuyperian Commentary reader would have little to no familiarity with progressive rock. So my recommendations are geared toward the prog newbie and not so much toward a seasoned listener familiar with every nook and cranny of the genre.

If you are a seasoned consumer of progressive rock you will undoubtedly look at my list and find a quibble here or there. “I wouldn’t have recommended ______ by _______. I would recommended _______ by ______ instead.” Recommended lists are by no means definitive and I am assuming that. However, someone has to be the navigator on this prog journey and and I’m the one wearing the tour guide hat, coat, and dungarees. Nevertheless, prog fandom inspires vigorous debate like few other rock music genres. Proggers are a spirited lot, active on Internet message boards, able to write thousands of words about the glories of mid- 70s Italian prog, or argue to the death that everyone but them has completely overlooked obscure prog artists like Ozric Tentacles or Grobschnitt. Let’s just say that, if you’re looking for a series of recommendations from the skinny branches of the prog rock tree, prepare to be disappointed.

Finally, when compiling lists like these, I try never think in terms of a “best of” list. Therefore, this list (nor any other lists in this series) should not be misconstrued as being my picks for the “five best prog albums ever.” Leave the “best of” list discussions for athletic competitions and the Guinness Book of World Records. This is all about my opinions of what would suffice as suitable listening for a Kuyperian Commentary prog newbie. Your mileage and recommendations will surely vary.

This list is meant to address foundations. The following are five albums that I believe I could give any prog rock newbie and they would come away feeling as if they had a solid knowledge and understanding of what makes for good prog rock. If you look at the picture above you’ll see a spoiler snapshot giving away my choices for this list.

Let’s consider briefly each album in chronological order and then, over the next five posts, we will attempt a deeper, track-by-track dive into my “foundational five albums of progressive rock.”

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